Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt has added his voice to the critique of Assad regime’s controversial Law 10, tweeting Wednesday that the measure “completes the [Assad] regime’s and Daesh’s destruction of Syria.” “The ISIS extremist group and the Assad regime are two sides of a single coin,” Joumblatt said. “What do some people want [to gain by] feigning ignorance about the intentions of the regime?” The law drawn international…

The head of the world’s chemical weapons watchdog said that attacks involving chlorine barrel bombs and deadly nerve agent sarin in Syria have continued despite the landmark agreement that won the group a Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. Ahmet Uzumcu, director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), has questioned whether the Assad regime declared his entire arsenal. Syrian “authorities have to explain in a plausible,…

The European Council has decided to extend European Union sanctions against the Assad regime until at least June 1, 2019, the institution’s press service reported on May 28. The decision to do so was made in line with the general EU policy regarding Syria due to “the ongoing repression of the civilian population by the regime and its supporters,” the statement reads. The updated sanctions list currently includes 259 persons…

The Yarmouk camp in southern Damascus “lies today in ruins” following years of crippling siege and the onslaught the Assad regime launched to recapture the district in April. “Yarmouk was once the thriving home of 160,000 Palestinians. Today it lies in ruins, with hardly a house untouched by the conflict, with hardly a single building that has not been destroyed or damaged, including the public health system,” said Chris Gunness,…

Doctors without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said that the Assad regime is to blame for the deteriorating health conditions in various parts of Damascus countryside as the regime continues to deny the medical charity access to the areas under its control. In a statement issued on Wednesday, MSF called on the Assad regime to reverse its seven-year ban on the medical charity, issuing an urgent appeal for access…